Metallic burial-vault.



No. 866,214. PATENTED SEPT. 17, 1907.

' A. J. PERKS.

METALLIC BURIAL VAULT.

APPLIGATIIEON FILED AUG. 4 1906.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

mum mnmi we in coma dWzM PATENTED SEPT. 17, 1907.

A. J. PERKS.

METALLIC BURIAL VAULT.

APPLICATION TILED AUG.4, 1906.

SSHEETS-SHEBI M Memes PATENTED SEPT. 17, 1907.

- A. J. PERKS.

\ METALLIC BURIAL VAULT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4, 1906.

3 SHETSSHEBT 3.

UNITED sTA'rEsrPATnNT' OFFICE.

, the Unitedu states, -residing. at Springfield, in the county of-Clark and: State f11Ohi0, have invented certain new' and usefulfhnprovernents in Metallic'Burialvau ltsxof, is a specification, reference being had th ein t0=the accompanying drawings.

- :My inventionrelatesto metallic burial vaults, and more particularly-to that' cla'ss of vaults having an end d to be closed and locked to H v, I and the object thereof is .suclrawault inwhich the door or end closure nsertedand locked in place and to pro trur ion and correspondingly inexpensive in producr h theseobjects in view. my invention consists in )ed, and more particu-j 5f nicest i Fig. 7 is a transverse section, taken through said clampingalevicepFig, 8iis'atransverse section, taken through portion or thevault, showing the is a longitudinal secd'e iee, ,with the bolt extended;

i sf s shk the ,vault is indicated at l.

'Ihftiit \Hljhiindgllls vaulteand iafshortdistance from the end thereof is secured an" annular flange 2, preferably 1 formed *by"'riveti'=ng, ordither-wise"firmly securing, an

angle bar 3 to the inner edge of the vault. A par-king diof rhbberoioldionsuitable material, is placed againstthe ol ter face of this flange and is adaptedlo receive the inner face of the door, as n ill be hereinafter describ d. i

The door 5, which is of metal or other suitable n|atcrial, is shaped to fit snugly within the end of the vault and to hear at its inner edges against the pacl ing 4, resting upon the flange 2. :Securcd at intervals around the inner edge of the deer are locking devic s 6 whi' h are so constructed that \Vlijfll the door is placed i rsition in the vault, the\ bolts of said locking devices will be retracted to allowtheih to pass the [tango if; Spec'ifi'eatio'n;of Letters Patent. Application filed linguist 4 serial Ifo. 329,211. w

\ e 'lodli ing' meansanda clamping means adapted to coiipcratefand wwhichwill,li ecflficientgsimple in con- ALBERT: JfPER'KS,OPSPRINGFIELD, O HIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CHAMPION CHEMICAL 1 1 COMPANY -OF= SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, AOORPORATION OF I onro.

METALLIC BURIAL-VAUIL'I.

lfatented Sept. 17, 1907.

door securely in place. This lOCKlDg oevicemay be of any suitable construction, but I prefer that shown in the drawings, in which 7 is a casing of metal provided with flanges 7" having bolt holes for securing the same to the door, and also provided with a sliding bolt 8 and a spring 9 engaging the lug 10 at the rear end of said bolt and confined between said bolt and the end of said casing A pin or lug 11 is carried by the bolt 8 and extends through a slot 12 in the wall of the casing 7 and affords means for retracting said bolt against the pressure of the spring 9. 'lhe lug ll. is preferably formed with a recess 11 in the forward edge thereof, and the casing 7 is provided at the rear of the slot 12 with a lug 13 having a similar recess 13 in the rear edge thereof. In order to secure the bolt 8 in its retracted position, against the pressure of the spring I provide a link 14 of sufficient length to pass over the lugs 11 and 13 when the bolt 8 is in the extreme rearward position and adapted to engage the recesses 11." and 13" in thesaid lugs to'retain the bolt in a retracted position after the rearward pressure has been removed, the lug 11 having a movement within the link equal to the combined depth of the two recesses It and 1 3. The edge ofthe nose 17 of the bolt 8, which engages the flange 2, is beveled as shown at 17, preferably at an angle of about 12, and the edge of said nose opposite said beveled edge is provided with a lug or projection 15, adapted to enter the slot 16 in the casing 7 when the bolt is in its retracted position. The lug 15 has its forward edge beveled or inclined, as shown at 1'5 and extended toth'e forward end of the nose '17- which is of such length as to be flush with the forward end of the casing 7 when the lug ll is in the foremost position permitted by its movement within the link 14. Thus when the door 5 is placed in position, with the boltsiiof the lockingdeviccsin their extended positions, the inclined face l5 of the lug l5 on the bolt 8, engages the edge of the flange 2, and as the door is moved-inward the pressure of the flange against the inclined face of the lug forces the bolt back against the pressure of the spring thcreby prinitting the bolt to pass the flange. As soon asthe end of the nose 17 of the bolt passes the flange the spring again forces thebolt forward and causcls the beveled face l7" of the nose to engage the inner cdgc of the flangeand thus lock the door against outward movcnn-nt. While I have described a link for retaining the bolt in its retracted position, it is obvious that. a wire or other flexible substance might be passed around the lugs for that purpose.

In order to clamp the door 5 tightly against the packing 4 to form an air-tight joint, [provide clamping means on the outer face of the door, which may 2 and, as soon as they'have passed the same, role sod i be of any suitable construction, but preferably that to engage the inner edge of the flange, thusloeking the shown in the drawings, in which 18 is a metal plate provided with bolt holes 19 for securing the same to to receive the sliding bolt 21. The guideway 20 is provided near its forward end with a longitudinal slot 22 near the junction of said guideway with the plate 18, and a transverse slot 23 at the forward end of said longitudinal slot and at substantially right angles thereto. The bolt 2]. has its forward end reduced, as indicated at 24, and eccentric to the axis of rotation of the bolt." A pin 25 is secured to said bolt and extends through the slots in the guideway 20. Metal cars 26, having recesses 27 therein, are securely bolted to the forward end of said vault in positions corresponding to the location of the clamping devices l8, and in such a manner that the. recess 27 projects beyond the forward edge of the vault.

With the parts as herein described and both the locking device and the clamping bolts in their normal positions, the end piece or door 5 is inserted in the end of the vault. When the inclined face l5 of the lug l5 carried by the bolt 8 of the locking device (5 comes in contact with the flange 2 within the vault, it is forced back and retracts the spring-pressed bolt 8 of the locking device, thereby permitting the bolt to pass the flange and the beveled face 17 of said bolt to engage upon the inner edge of the flange and lock the door securely in place. The bolt 2i of the clamping device l8 is in its retracted position with the pin 25 in the slot 22 and has the cutaway portion of the forward or eccentrieend of the bolt turned toward the outside. With the bolt in this position, it is slipped forward into the recess 27 and the pin 25 thrown downward, thereby turning the bolt to bring the eccentric 24 to bear against the edge of the recess 27, thereby forcing the end piece or door inward against the packing 4. As the door is forced inward, the beveled edge of the spring-pressed bolt 8 slips over the flange 2 and grips thesame to take up the slack and hold the door in the position to which it is forced by the clamps. The bevel on the sliding bolt 8 is at such a slight angle that the outward pressure of the doom when the clamps are released, is ndt suiiicient to force the bolt back against the pressure of the spring 9, but grips firmly on the edge of the flange and holds the door in the position to which it has been advanced.

On the bottom of the vault and within the flange 2 I arrange a rod 28 upon which are mounted rollers 29 adapted to receive the end of the casket as it is entered into the vault and form a guideway for the same, Within the vault beyond the rollers 29 is a small truck 30 comprising a frame 31 :mounted on rollers 32. As the casket is pushed into the vault over the rollers 29,

the forward end is allowed to rest upon the truck 30 which supports it and guides it to the rear of the vault. I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: f

1. In a burial vault, the combination, with a body por tion having an annular flange neurone end thereof, of a removable door, means for adjusting said door relatively to said flange, a spring-actuated sliding bolt carried by said door and having its opposite faces beveled, one face to engage said flange and retract said bolt, and the other face to engage said flange and retain said door in its adjusted position, substantially as described.

2. In a burial vault, the combination, with the body portion having a projection therein, and a door adjustable relatively to said projection, of a locking device for said door comprising a housing having a slot therein, a bolt slidably mounted in said housing, a spring confined between said bolt: and one end of said housing, a part car ried by said bolt and extending through said slot, and a member adapted to be connected to said housing and to engage the part extending through said slot to retain said bolt in its retracted position, said bolt having an inclincd face adapted to engage the projection on said body portion and to retract the bolt against the pressure of said spring.

3. In a burial vault, the combination, with the body portion having a projection therein, and a door adjustable relatively to said projection, of a locking device for said door comprising a housing having a plurality of slots therein, a bolt slidably mounted in said husing, a spring confined between said bolt and one cnd'of said housing, :1 lug on said bolt extending through onoof said slots in said housing. and means for engaging said lug to retain said lrolt in its retracted position, and an inclined nose near the outer end of said bolt in alinement with the other of said slots and adapted to engage the projection on said body portion and retract said bolt against the pres-' tion having a projection therein and a door adjustablerelatively to said projection, of a locking device for said door comprising a housing having a slot therein, a lug on'said housing, a bolt siidubly mounted in said housing, a spring confined between said bolt and one end of said housing. a lug on said bolt extending through the slot' in said housing, an inclined face on said bolt adapted to engage the projection on said body portion and retract said bolt against the pressure of said spring, and means for engaging said lugs to retain said bolt in its retracted position, substantially as'dcscribed.

ln tesilmony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT J. PERKS.

Witnesses E. O. IIAGAN, Enwnnn L. Rose. 

